He's 11th in points and for one of the few times in his career, is looking over his shoulder at the competition headed his way.

The veteran driver said Friday he's focusing on his team as NASCAR heads to Pocono Raceway on Sunday for the Pocono 400, but it's understandable if he takes a glance backwards as well. Pocono is a place where Gordon has won a record six times, including a win on the 2.5-mile triangle last August.

But while the Chase is well down the road, it's not too early in the season for Gordon (112 points) to be thinking ahead. And he should be. Veteran drivers like Greg Biffle trail Gordon by just eight points in 13th place, Martin Truex Jr. is 14th and just 18 points behind Gordon.

Tony Stewart, who landed in Victory Lane last week at Dover has 135 points in 16th position, while Kurt Busch is 17th with 136 points.

“I spend a little bit of time looking through the field and evaluating how we're running, what our potential is,” said Gordon, who will start 11th after qualifying was rained out on Friday. “I put a lot more focus on what we're doing and what we're capable of doing, but you have to evaluate what other guys are doing and how well they're running and what kind of strength they have. Martin Truex Jr. comes to mind like last week at Dover. We know he runs well there.”

The key, Gordon said, is being consistent. Despite not being at his best, he's still 11th in points, trailing 10th place Brad Keselowski – last year's series champion by eight points – ninth-place Paul Menard by 10 points and Kyle Busch in eighth place by 13 points.

“If we get some consistency, how high up in the points can we get and who are we capable of outrunning on a regular basis?” Gordon said. “As well as who's behind us and has potential to run us down. I would say that much more of our focus is doing our job.”

The wild card may be Denny Hamlin, who has four wins at Pocono. He's missed much of the season with a back injury and is 26th in points.

Hamlin, combined with owner Joe Gibbs, have the team to make a run at the Chase, especially considering Pocono Raceway is on the schedule twice in the next two months. Hamlin has 13 races to make up tons of ground on the field.

“With Denny, you can't count them out,” Gordon said. “Gibbs is running so good right now. They can strike and win at any time and Pocono comes to mind as a very strong track for him.”

Danica Patrick will have to wait an extra day to get in her first practice on the triangle after rain dominated the afternoon on Friday.

She had some time for a few light-hearted moments with the media on Friday.

Patrick was asked if she reads the press?

“Only if I have a good weekend,” she said laughing.

Juan Pablo Montoya was asked if he found a loophole after last week's controversial restart with Jimmie Johnson at Dover.

“Did I?” Montoya said.

“I'm asking you?” the reporter responded.

“Wow, I'm that good,” Montoya said to a laughing audience. “Man, that's a compliment. The loophole is you have to start between the cones … that I did. And you're not supposed to beat the leader to the line. What's so hard about that?”

Johnson claims that on the restart Montoya was going so slow that he was forced to pass illegally. Johnson also said that cars behind him – Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards – were forced to “stomp” on the brakes.

“From the restart zone to the start-finish line, if one guy breaks or has trouble NASCAR has the ability to make the call and say that they had trouble and it's fine to go,” Johnson said. “Someone flops, what then?”